Heyman On Dodgers, Valentine

Halladay would be perfect for the Dodgers!
Will a GM please grow some balls and trade for the guy already?
Who cares if you have to get rid of James Loney and some prospects? Just do it already.

The Mets should and probably would do that trade in an instant. This trade fills multiple holes for cheap and the would be able to get out of Santana's massive contract.

I'm sure the Braves would love to take Loney off the Dodgers hands. Seems like a very good fit.

Jays don't need to save money. Canadian dollar is up to 95c US from around 80c at the start of November last year. That's a lot of extra purchasing power without ownership (whose money is all in Canadian dollars) having to commit an extra dime.

I think any team would be crazy to trade for Halladay now, unless they can agree to an extension once they get him. Halladay (or Jays ownership, rather) is going to demand the same kind of package in return that would have sent him at the July deadline. Even if it would push them to the Playoffs/WS the would have to sell the farm to do so. I'd stay away. Dodgers seem to have some holes, especially in the starting pitching department. They should really go after Lackey. It makes the most sense, especially to stay in California. A 1-2-3 of Lackey, Billingsley and Kershaw would be lethal and would take pressure off of Billingsley. Trading Martin would be silly now because of his power outage and struggles this year. Big no no. Trading Loney makes the most sense value-wise, but who would want him and what kind of return would the Dodgers get? And who do they have to replace him? I'm not familiar with their farm.

I think the Jays save $400,000 with each .01 rise in the dollar; thats roughly $6 million a year. The CDN probably has another .07-.10 left to go meaning another $2.8-$4 million in savings.

By the start of next season that would give them roughly $10 million extra without touching payroll.

Thats not chump change

Great idea, if you don't need anyone to catch or play first base.

BlueSky

You guys can have Overbay. :)

Overbay is a FA after next season. So another $7.95MM the Jays have to play with. Same with Encarnacion, so another $4.75MM. Then yeah, Ryan's $10MM contract comes off the books. So in total, that's about $22.70MM to play with, assuming Encarnacion isn't re-signed.

That's money to either re-sign Halladay with, or add more pieces.

And scribbletone, I agree. Lackey is a downgrade over Billingsley, workhorse or not. Plus the payroll implications!

I'd love to see what Colletti does this offseason. Will the divorce hamstrung what he can do to help this team? Because they obviously need big-time starters to make it to the WS. MORS or BORS usually don't become aces in the playoffs. Look at Padilla.

Well, I didn't say any top prospects. Just prospects. Low-level prospects. Like an Argenis Diaz, or Josh Harrison, or Jeff Marquz or Jhonny Nunez.

You know, low-level prospects. Obviously, adding a high-end prospect would be highway robbery.

"You know, low-level prospects. Obviously, adding a high-end prospect would be highway robbery."

Three years of Martin and three years of Billingsley for one year of Halladay isn't robbery already?

And you do realize that aces such as Halladay, Beckett and Lee aren't signed past 2010, and could potentially reach the free agent market?

What's up with the Dodgers owner? He's getting a divorce last I read. It would be awesome to see the Dodgers get gutted like the Padres. Welcome to the off-season you Bums."

Is someone a little angry? Aw...

Now, the national media is freakin retarted. At the start of the year, they felt they were the best team in the NL. Manny is suspended, we are with the Giants. Manny comes back, and we will be the best team every. Trade deadline-no Halladay or Lee, we will miss the playoffs. Postseason-The dodgers are 'soft' and cant do anything, they will definetly lose in the first round and may get swept... Yea, you know how that turned out. We sweep the Cards-Our pitching is great and we have a Yanks-Dodgers WS in the future. We lose in 5- the Dodgers suck and we need to trade 3 of our YOUNG, COST CONTROLLED STARS for a guy who has 1 yr left on his deal. Has anyone seen more flip flopping in one year about one team? Damn...

Trading any MLB players for Halladay is dumb. Is he a great pitcher, yes. Is he a God send. No. Our main problem this series....? Offense. We scored 15 runs in 3 games. Thats horrible. (also, because i can see this coming, the pitching wasnt as bad as it seemed. The Phillies hit ~10 HRs and only 2 were solo shots. Everytime a batter was walked or got a hit, the next guy seemed to hit a homer... You just cant win like that.)

I said this on the other dodger post yesterday. We need to extend Kemp, Martin, Billz, Ethier and Broxton. the ONE thing we cant do is blow this team up. Its a great team with great chemistry and they play together well. A few pieces(on offense and keep this pitching, let Kershaw and Billz grow, try McDonald in the rotation again, etc) and we are back in the NLCS and possibly farther...

Scribbletone, sometimes you need to make these trades to win now. The Dodgers were so close, but they were destroyed by a much better Phillies club. Billingsley practically disappeared during the last month, and Torre had lost confidence in him so much that he was thinking of keeping him off the playoff roster (at least, that's what I remember reading... Correct me if I'm wrong).

The chances of Doc re-signing if he were to be traded to LA is pretty good. He signed a team friendly contract with Toronto, and he doesn't strike me as a guy who wants to make that huge contract (ie. Holliday, practically anyone represented by Boras, etc). The Dodgers are a really good team, but as was shown in the playoffs, they are missing too much to win it soon.

No doubt, they'll be perennial contenders, but they'll keep on getting eliminated in the NLCS by stronger teams. Plus, imagine Halladay pitching in a HUGE pitchers park like Dodgers Stadium. They struck out on Sabathia last year (although that might have been San Francisco... Can't remember if they were in the hunt or not). Lackey is nowhere as close as Sabathia in terms of talent.

IMO, if they really want to win it, they need that dependable ace. I'm looking at ace acquisitions that helped put teams over the top: Clemens to the Yankees, Schilling/Johnson to the DBacks, Beckett to the Red Sox, and now either Sabathia to the Yankees or Lee to the Phillies.

And I agree, Lackey is not that pitcher to put them over the top.

"Scribbletone, sometimes you need to make these trades to win now. The Dodgers were so close, but they were destroyed by a much better Phillies club. Billingsley practically disappeared during the last month, and Torre had lost confidence in him so much that he was thinking of keeping him off the playoff roster (at least, that's what I remember reading... Correct me if I'm wrong)."

Yeah, but it's not like Halladay is that much better than Billingsley. He's certainly better, and it's more impressive that he does what he does in the AL East, but Billingsley is a top of the rotation pitcher in his own right. Not only is Billingsley younger and has some serious room to improve, but he's already an awfully good pitcher.

"The chances of Doc re-signing if he were to be traded to LA is pretty good. He signed a team friendly contract with Toronto, and he doesn't strike me as a guy who wants to make that huge contract (ie. Holliday, practically anyone represented by Boras, etc). The Dodgers are a really good team, but as was shown in the playoffs, they are missing too much to win it soon."

Yeah, but their chances would still be pretty good even if they didn't trade for him, he's going to be a free agent after the season anyways.

If you want a potentially scary ace, then go out and sign Harden or Bedard, or hope that Kershaw or Billingsley can take the next big step in 2010.

Don't underestimate Kershaw, he obviously has some command issues to get figured out, but when that happens, you may be looking at the best lefty in the game.

Trading Bills and Martin for Halladay would seem to be a massive overreaction to their failure this season, and I know all about that kind of thing, I watched as Hendry messed up a great team last winter.

-zeppelin...why would we trade kemp? he is our best over all hitter avg, his power is getting there, speed on the base paths, great defence and throwing arm, your talking out your a$$. i would agree with bay signing but only if manny opts out of his contract.which i dought cause he wont get more than 20m else where. but if he did bay or holliday would be good.

-andrew..loney is great defender and drove in 90 yes..but he is not a natural first basemen. when you think first base you think power and his power is not there yet, so it is iffy wat we should do with him. but he is a great player. if we can trade him and some prospects for adrian gonzalez i would approve cause adrian has good defence and a much better bat. and he is on the trade block.

march9 the dodgers won't get holliday ,too much money and i think a switch from kemp to bay gives a better middle of the order than kemp can supply ,and the 1.2.3 would be amazing it benefits both teams ,but the dodgers need to trade from the big league club to get top notch talent back and they could save their lackey money and extend beckett ,personally i think its a fair enough trade

Chad Billingsley, Russell Martin, and James Loney for Johan Santana?

Yeah the Dodgers are gonna trade a no worse than Number 2 starter with with number 1 stuff, a above average catcher, and the best pure hitter besides Manny(maybe) on the club for a hurt, aging ACE?
Is anyone aware that the Dodgers owner just fired his wife(CEO) and is gearing up for World War 3?

The last thing he is gonna do is gut our team and pick up 100+ million dollars.

Kemp for Beckett?

I won't comment on that because it came out of a Red Sox fan.

Kershaw
Bills
Kuroda
JMAC
Elbert/Garland/Padilla/Harden

I like that.

We need a power bat more than anything else. Or 150 games of Manny.

"Matt Kemp

For

Josh Beckett + cash considerations

if the dodgers are in the mindset of winning now then having a front 3 of Kershaw,Beckett,Billingsley allows them to pretty much dominate next year and at least return to the nlcs .and to replace the parts , the dodgers could sign Jason Bay or Bobby Abreu .and The Red Sox could throw their beckett extension money at John Lackey"

"march9 the dodgers won't get holliday ,too much money and i think a switch from kemp to bay gives a better middle of the order than kemp can supply ,and the 1.2.3 would be amazing it benefits both teams ,but the dodgers need to trade from the big league club to get top notch talent back and they could save their lackey money and extend beckett ,personally i think its a fair enough trade"

This is why SO MANY people hate Red Sox fans. Hey, we have an aging pitcher who was once really good but was only above average this year.... Lets go trade for one of the best CFs in the game... whos 25(and JUST turned 25 a month ago). Hey, theyd have a good rotation of Billz, Kershaw and Beckett and then they can sign Jason Bay, who is better offensivly:" i think a switch from kemp to bay gives a better middle of the order than kemp can supply". And then he can start in CF, have Manny or Ethier on the bench and lets have PIERRE START. Hey, he did good for 50 games right? My God, get off the post, this is ridiculos

We'll know Manny's status pretty soon. IIRC, he's only got a few weeks after the season ends to exercise his option. Until then it's premature to talk about anybody else in LF, including Bay.

I agree with scribbletone, you don't dump a young talented player like Billingsley because they might have regressed during part of one season, and you don't trade a classic five-tool player like Kemp, nohow.

See i wouldnt trade for halladay. if it was up too me i would throw a big package deal at florida.bills,mcdonald,withrow,linblom,stults,dewitt,and one other for josh johnson,and dan uggla. it gives us a young great pitcher and another power bat to fill the second base hole.that would make us a greater team.and how are you going to say kemp is not a great cf..he is probabaly the best overall cf in the game right now. if we had one two three of johnson,kershaw, and lackey we would dominate, if we can throw pierre at florida we could save that space for lackey or sheets or rich harden.
1.johnson
2.kershaw
3.sheets/lackey/harden
4.wolf
5.kuroda
its dominant and would take us farther in the nlcs.

I am surprised BoSox fans did not post this yet.

Matt Kemp,Andre Either,Kershaw

For
Becket, Matsuzaka and J.D Drew,

Obvious sarcasm by the way.

Kershaw
Bills
Kuroda
JMAC
Elbert/Garland/Padilla/Harden

I like that.

We need a power bat more than anything else. Or 150 games of Manny.

Posted by: 661dodgerblue | October 22, 2009 at 05:51 PM

How would 150 games of Manny made a difference for the Dodgers this season? The Dodgers did great without Manny, so I'm not sure it would've even impacted their overall record, and it certainly wouldn't have impacted the NLCS.

Another power bat would be nice, sure, but where?

The outfield is set. No changes will be made there.

The only clear positions the Dodgers could realistically upgrade would be infield positions, but what sluggers are available for 2B, SS, or 3B? Certainly nobody that would displace Furcal or Blake, so you're left with 2B (not much available) or 1B. Do you give up on Loney?

There is always the option of trading Loney in a package for pitching, and then looking for a power bat for 1B, but I don't think that's the Dodgers problem.

Pitching, clearly, is what lost them the NLCS. Aside from the game against Lee, they scored enough runs to win games 1, 4, and 5.

Yet you want to do with a rotation of Kershaw (who, while an amazing talent, still has a lot of work to do regarding pitching deeply into games), Billingsley (who disappeared half the season), Kuroda (who, with his injuries and age, is foolish to rely on), McDonald (who has struggled mightily in every start he's been handed), and then Elbert, Padilla, Garland or Harden (okay, the #5 spot is at least realistic)?

It should be *so* clear that an experienced front of rotation pitcher is what is lacking for the Dodgers. Someone that can go deep into games. Yet your projected starting rotation is a recipe for even fewer innings pitched by Dodger starters (being minus Wolf). Did you forget about the injuries to Kuo, Belisario, Wade, Mota, and ineffectiveness of Troncoso down the stretch? The bullpen was seriously overused this season. That rotation would be worse on the bullpen.

I don't think Halladay would be a wise move if he cost any of the Dodgers regular starts (that includes Billingsley). But Lackey would suit the Dodgers needs almost perfectly. The guy regularly pitched 7+ innings, and it isn't unusual to get 8+ innings out of him. He has tons of postseason experience. He would take significant weight off guys like Billingsley and Kershaw, and help mentor them (just like Manny did for Kemp, Ethier, etc.), and he'd most likely be more dominant in the NL West (with lots of pitcher's parks and no DH).

The Dodgers can afford Lackey's contract (they are losing Schmidt, Wolf, Hudson, $5m off Manny, Mota, Ohman, Thome, etc.). They probably can't afford to lose the players they'd have to send to Toronto for Halladay.

Lackey
Kershaw
Billingsley
Padilla/Harden/Sheets/Duchscherer
Kuroda/Elbert/McDonald

That *might* get them beyond the Phillies in the NLCS next year.

Heath Bell and Gonzo for Loney, Martin and Billingsley...i would take that but probably never gonna happen

"way to spell ridiculous wrong ,mid-rant no less. and I totally agree with you on the idea that these AGING 29 year old ,slightly ABOVE AVERAGE ,17-6, 3.8 era ,1.19 whip,2 SO and 212 IP starters ,are overrated good point .

Posted by: zeppelin3593 | October 22, 2009 at 06:09 PM"

OK man, for real, looking at some of your posts you shouldn't be correcting anyone on their grammar.

Secondly, the Dodgers would be raped in that trade. Beckett after this 2010 season, is a free agent. Kemp has 3 seasons to go before free agency. So why exactly should the Dodgers trade 3 years of a clearly superior player for one year of a good pitcher?

It doesn't make sense to trade someone with Kemp's potential (MVP calibur tools) for Josh Beckett, who is in his contract year.

i'm pretty sure the d-backs picked up garland's buyout under the condition they received tony abreu in the trade. looking at the books, the dodgers aren't really gonna have as much to spend as most people think. their young stars are due for raises (ethier, kemp, kuo, broxton, billingsley, loney).

they do have wolf, hudson, and schmidt coming off the books, but that doesn't leave them with a whole lot after factoring in the raises.

the dodgers aren't trading for johan or halladay this offseason. keeping bills and kershaw is a much more high-upside move, both talent-wise and financially. johan may never be the same after the elbow issue and halladay is on the wrong side of thirty to be trading young stars for.

the dodgers will be in great shape if they can fortify the rotation with a guy like garland or wolf to go along with kershaw, billingsley, kuroda. a high-upside play for a guy like bedard or sheets would be a solid option for the 5th spot.

however, i just really get the feeling colletti is just gonna sign washurn and some middling relievers and call it an offseason. he'll probably also do something about 2nd base that doesn't involve re-signing orlando hudson or naming blake dewitt our everyday guy. maybe go after derosa, or re-sign belliard.

this is gonna be a long offseason.

look dodgers should sign v-mart.
trade loney and martin for a.gonzalez!
1st gonzalez
2nd hudson or belliard
3rd blake
catcher martinez
lf manny
cf kemp
rf ethier
what do you guys think???